The Most Affordable Security Cameras

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You want your home to be secure, but you also don’t have thousands or even hundreds of dollars to spend on a security camera. At the same time, you don’t want to sacrifice your family’s security just because of your wallet. Well, I’m here to tell you that you can have it all. That’s why I’ve compiled a list of the best, most affordable security cameras around- nothing on this list costs more than $120!

Wyze Cam

Wyze Cam

Wyze Cam

At only $20, the Wyze Cam is by far the most affordable security camera I’ve ever seen, and the amazing thing about it that it doesn’t sacrifice quality. Sure, it’s field of view is a bit narrow at 110 degrees, but with the industry standard of 1080p HD video and the ability to zoom in eight times, the Wyze Cam definitely makes up for it. It also has great infrared night vision, two-way audio, free local and cloud storage for 14 days, and integrations with Amazon Alexa and IFTTT. It’s only weakness? The Wyze Cam doesn’t have person detection, so you may receive some unnecessary notifications. However, it does have smart sound recognition for smoke and carbon monoxide alarms. For the price of a fancy salad, the Wyze Cam gives tons of amazing value.

Tend Secure Lynx Indoor

Tend Secure Lynx Indoor Camera

Tend Secure Lynx Indoor

The Tend Lynx is the most affordable option that we’ve seen for artificial intelligence. I have to be honest: at less than 60 dollars, I’m initially a little skeptical of the Lynx’s abilities. Sure, it’s got 1080p HD and two-way audio. But can it get the job done when it comes to artificial intelligence?

Surprisingly, this inexpensive little camera has facial recognition technology. I’ll admit that it’s not perfect- as I move my face in different angles, the camera isn’t always able to recognize me.But for the price point, I’m pretty impressed. The Lynx camera is a great option for people who want facial recognition at an affordable price.

Canary All-In-One

Canary All-In-One

Canary All-In-One

It’s a bird. No, it’s a plane. No, it’s a Canary All-In-One! Corniness aside, the Canary-All-In-One is a great indoor camera. It has a field of view of 147 degrees and smart home integrations with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. As of a software update in February 2019, the Canary-All-In-One includes person detection.

More often than not, cameras with artificial intelligence have person detection as opposed to a more advanced facial recognition software. That means while the camera can tell the difference between people and other moving objects, it cannot recognize specific individuals. If you’re looking for solid person detection and don’t care so much about facial recognition, the Canary-All-In-One is a great choice for you.

Blink Indoor

Blink Indoor Camera

Blink Indoor

Blink, one of Amazon’s latest security company purchases, makes a great indoor camera for only $99. Unlike the Tend Lynx, the Blink Indoor has both cloud and local storage available, completely free! Unfortunately, you only get two hours of cloud storage, but I’m happy with the fact that they offer both.

Smart home integration-wise, the camera integrates with both Amazon Alexa and Google Home. The major drawback here is that you can only use voice commands to arm or disarm your entire system, not specific cameras. One cool but slightly random feature is the camera’s built-in temperature sensors. At least it saves you the trouble of having to buy a thermometer!

When it comes to video, the Blink Indoor isn’t quite up to snuff with its competition. It only has 720p HD, way lower than the industry standard of 1080p HD. In the same vein, the camera cannot zoom and only has a field of view of 110 degrees. Similarly, its night vision disappoints, and there’s no two-way audio or artificial intelligence features.

Despite its many shortcomings, I do feel that the Blink Indoor is a quality, affordable camera option, and setup could not be easier, which is always a plus.

Amazon Cloud Cam

Amazon Cloud Camera

Amazon Cloud Cam

Amazon is really gunning for the home security camera market. At $119.99, the Amazon Cloud Cam is their latest indoor camera, and it has some amazing qualities. With 1080p HD video, the ability to zoom in eight times, and a field of view of 120 degrees, this camera’s video is definitely giving you the bang for your buck. It also has awesome night vision powered by eight infrared LED lights, and two-way audio. Not surprisingly, the camera integrates with Amazon Alexa, but not Google Assistant or IFTTT.

Everything has its negatives, and the Amazon Cloud Cam is no exception. You can only get person detection or cloud storage over 24 hours through a paid monthly subscription. If you want more cloud storage, person detection, or activity zones, you’ll need to invest in a subscription plan, detailed below.

Amazon Cloud Cam Subscriptions

The prices are not ridiculous, as you can see, but of course, you can decide whether or not you want to pay the monthly fee. Unfortunately, the Cloud Cam does not offer any local storage.

I’m not super excited about the fact that you need a monthly membership to get any local storage at all, or more than 24 hours of cloud storage. I’m also disappointed that two-way audio and person detection are not included with the camera.

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Gabe Turner is an attorney and journalist with a passion for home tech and secure, efficient living. Since graduating from NYU Law, he has maintained a paradoxical existence of trying to live life adventurously while remaining staunchly risk-averse. He is torn by the dual desires of wanting to only be in Brooklyn writing about housing policy and smart home tech and aspiring to visit his friends scattered across the globe. Gabe believes that stable, safe communities are the cornerstone to a vibrant and healthy society, and it is this passion that brought him to contribute to Security Baron.

2 thoughts on “The Most Affordable Security Cameras”

Hi Brandy, you should pick a camera with infrared night vision that doesn’t have any additional lights on it or where you can disable the light. I’d check out the Blink XT2 (you can disable the blue light)-